Snowdrops                  Word on the Week               28^th January 2023.

They have reappeared, on cue, these harbingers of spring to delight the eye and reassure the heart of warmer days ahead.   God’s promise again fulfilled.   “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Genesis chapter 8 verse 22).

My own interest in snowdrops started around the age of 7 when our school teacher required us to take our crayons and draw a snowdrop.   She brought a plant in full bloom into the classroom and supplied the paper.   Our task was to represent it in two dimensions.  I recall my effort was pinned on the classroom wall – an unrepeated success!

We have a hollow in a field where cattle once had dust baths in summer.   It was fenced, planted with trees and in due course ground ivy covered the woodland floor.   We have a galanthophile (snowdrop collector) in the house who planted clumps of snowdrops under the trees.  Each year they break through the carpet of ivy and brighten up the woodland giving us great pleasure.  

The plant grows out of a bulb to a height of 7 to 10 cm.   It is pure white on a green stem and has three thin green leaves.   It blooms in cold weather and has its own anti-freeze to survive the frost.   It continues to bloom into Spring when insects begin to appear. Remarkably, snowdrops have a built in insecticide to ward off the bugs! 

There are a large number of varieties as a result of enthusiasts breeding.   Whilst the common varieties can be obtained at little or no cost (they multiply naturally and require to be divided producing more bulbs annually) the rare varieties are much sought after and can fetch four figure sums.

Although not mentioned specifically in the Bible the flower presents a penitential picture, with its pure white head permanently bowed down, reminisicent perhaps of our Saviour when He completed the work of salvation, ‘Jesus bowed his head and gave up his Spirit’ (St John Chapter 19 verse 30).

May the humble snowdrop remind us of Him.

Talking to Bots                 Word on the Week          21^st January 2023.

Have you ever wondered, when making a business phone call these days, if the person at the other end of the line is a person at all?  Welcome to the world of ‘bots’.

Which brings us to “what on earth is a bot?”   It’s an abbreviation for the word robot!   We need to get used to the language as bots are cropping up everywhere.   In fact, that square printed next to where you sign a document and has printed, rather plaintively, “I am not a bot” required you to put your X in the box to prove you are not a bot!

Bots are made with computer programmes designed to copy some human activities.    These tasks can include conversing with a human — which attempts to mimic human behaviours — or gathering content from other websites.   

The programming dictates what intelligence is gathered and how it is put to use.   The skills are improving all the time.   It will soon be possible for the bot to replace repetitive jobs.   It has transformed the old ‘enquiries desk’ in modern companies having been equipped with the answers to every likely question.

Organizations or individuals have to train their bots to recognise ‘bad bots’ or scammers!   These are known as malware which attacks the workings of the bot or as ransomware.    The latter can sabotage a network of bots and demand a ransom to correct the damage.   

There appears to be a well-educated bot called ChatGPT.    It can produce a script around the items you speak into it.   This bot, having the appropriate program, would work wonders for kids struggling with essay writing!

With all this AI (artificial intelligence) around, word of it is bound to reach the churches.   Those with repetitive liturgies are easily catered for with seasonal variations to match the liturgical year cycle.    For Reformed churches the bible would need to be loaded and the congregation decide on whether or not to have a three-point sermon this Sunday!

Perish the thought!   Let’s keep the bots out of the Church!    Don’t even have them on the door!    The intelligence should not be artificial but God-given (2 Chronicles Chapter 1 verse 10).

The preacher is charged to ‘preach the Word’ when he feels like it and when he doesn’t feel like it, correct, rebuke and encourage and, with God’s help, may it be so till the Lord’s return.  (2 Timothy Chapter 4 verse 2).

Exile                              Word on the Week                        14^th January 2023.

The graphic picture of the exile in the Bible has been captured by the operatic composer, Verdi, in his opera Nabucco.   Few can resist the plaintive cry of the Hebrew slaves in Babylon as their captors taunt them to sing the songs of Zion.    How can we sing in a foreign land they replied?

The Hebrews’ pain in being separated from the land of their birth was accentuated by their love for Jerusalem, the city of David.   This was a place steeped in their history.   It was the seat of their kings.   But above all it was where the Temple of the Lord was located (Psalm 137 verses 1to 6).

It was where the Lord’s presence dwelled – in the Most Holy Place, between the cherubim and above the mercy seat (1 Kings Chapter 8 verses 6 to 9).  Underneath was the Ark of the Lord’s covenant containing the 10 Commandments written on stone.   They could never forget Jerusalem!

In addition to their memories of Jerusalem the exiles had the prophecy that the exile would last 70 years.   A generation would pass before their return but that return was sure (2 Chronicles Chapter 36 verse 21).   

Such certainty is not available to our Ukrainian friends.   Their period of exile will soon have completed its first year.    Their longing to return to their homeland has not diminished.   The tide of war ebbs and flows.   The stream of refugees continues to arrive with additions from other war-torn countries.

A relatively new feature in Ireland is the organised protest of the ‘far right’.   These people alight on perceived ‘weakness’ in this case the ever increasing flow of refugees which is causing a strain in some places.   This they try to exploit and by networking bring in others to form intimidatory meetings at the places where refugees are housed.   Hardly the Irish welcome we are known for!

But there is a bigger picture.   Whether or not you are a refugee when you put your trust in Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit enters your life and you are twice over the Lord’s.   First by creation then by Jesus’ act of redemption on the cross.    We now have the assurance of an everlasting home in heaven (1 Peter Chapter 1 Verses 17 to 21).

The Apostle Peter then goes on to describe believers as exiles and strangers here in the world.   Heaven has now become our real dwelling place through Jesus…”He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live to righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter Chapter 2 Verses 11 to 25).

Our exile ends the day we go to be with Jesus – John Chapter 14 verse 6.

In the Year of our Lord        Word on the Week                 7^th January 2023.

Yes, it is 2023!    And have we indulged in that ego-centred practice of making any New Year’s resolutions?   In our self-focus we can easily lose sight of what we are here for – ‘To glorify God and enjoy Him forever’ – as the Westminster Catechism puts it.   But what does it mean?

For some, as depicted in a TV programme of the Inner Hebrides shown last night it is the magnificent scenery.   It was said to offer a spirituality.   When examined further this spirituality was attributed to the place which was ‘thin’.  That is the boundary between the spiritual and the real is very small.   It is further claimed there are a number of these places of which the island of Iona is one.

Many of us would avoid such spirituality but find an attraction to the beauty of God’s creation which goes beyond enjoyment.   It can become a place where we are, like Nathaniel under the fig tree – trysting place with Jesus (John Chapter 1 verses 48 to 50).  

The apex of creation is man or to use his Biblical name Adam.   The text reads: So God created mankind in his own image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them. (Genesis chapter 1 verse 27).

It is important in our love for creation that we understand we are made in our Makers image.   It is even more important in today’s Ireland that we understand God created two categories recognised by their names ‘male’ and ‘female’.

It used to be called secular humanism but now it has gone much further and has become cultural Marxism.   In the latter the emphasises of the culture is to do away with the traditional family, remove the two genders by making gender fluid and nullify the authority of the church by, among other things, recreating man in their image and having abortion legalised! 

How do you change a culture?   Start with the young!   Get your ideology into the schools at an early age.   Introduce a new authority (the teacher) in the child’s life whereby the parent is not told about gender matters, at least not the personal ones concerning their body.      

The absence of the preaching of the Word as far as the vast majority is concerned makes these major changes relatively easy to introduce.   

How do we Glorify God?   When we obey Him.   When did Jesus glorify God?  When He went to the cross (John Chapter 17).   How do we enjoy Him?   By loving Him in every circumstance (Psalm 73 verses 25/26).